Refrigerated beverages are typically kept in a refrigerated compartment, such as an ice chest or a conventional refrigerator, and maintained in a chilled state at a desired temperature for consumption. The refrigerated beverage is then removed from the refrigerated compartment and consumed while it is in the chilled state. A problem arises in that beverages may not be completely consumed prior to ambient temperatures heating the beverage above a desired temperature. In order to impede the rate of heat transfer from ambient air to chilled beverages, various types of insulated beverage containers have been provided. Insulation layers for beverage containers have been provided by expanded foam materials, vacuum chambers, and the like. Ice has also been used to absorb heat from beverages to both reduce and maintain the temperatures of the beverages. However, this usually results in dilution of the beverages caused by the water from the melted ice. Beverages are often purchased and stored at ambient temperatures, and often ice, ice chests or other type conventional refrigerated compartments are not readily available.
The prior art also includes freezer mugs, which are beverage containers that typically have refrigerant filled annular chambers. The refrigerant filled annular chambers are disposed between a beverage compartment and an exterior shell of such beverage containers. The freezer mugs are placed in refrigerated compartments to chill the refrigerant disposed in the annular chambers to a low temperature state for use as a heat sink for absorbing heat from a beverage placed within the freezer mug. Some of the freezer mugs have refrigerants which freeze when placed in a freezer type refrigerated compartment. After the refrigerant is sufficiently chilled, the freezer mugs are removed from the refrigerated compartment, beverages are placed in the beverage compartments thereof, and the chilled refrigerant absorbs heat from the beverages. However, a freezer compartment has to be readily available for freezer mugs to be of use.
Refrigerated beverage mugs have also been provided which have a cooling coils disposed around a drink compartment for passage of compressed gases released from cartridges. The compressed gases, after release from the cartridges, will expand and pass through the cooling coils to absorb heat from beverages disposed in the mugs. Expansion of the gases causes cooling of the beverages disposed in the mugs. The compressed gases were discharged to the atmosphere. The energy available during expansion of the compressed gases was not utilized to perform work, but rather to cool through expansion resulting from release of the gases from being in a compressed state within the cartridges to being in an expanded state at atmospheric pressures.